Citadel of Fire (The Ronin Saga Book 2)

“Wolf has created a richly detailed, complex fantasy universe populated by intriguing characters who will continually surprise readers throughout the briskly paced tale… An impressive, page-turning adventure for fans of the series.”

—
KIRKUS
REVIEW

THE RONIN SAGA

Book One: The Knife’s Edge

Book Two: Citadel of Fire

CITADEL OF FIRE
Book Two of the Ronin Saga
Matthew Wolf

Copyright © 2014 by Matthew Wolf. All rights reserved.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved. No part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without permission from the author.

ISBN: 978-1-62660-080-5

eBook designed by
MC Writing

CITADEL OF FIRE

Book Two of the Ronin Saga

MATTHEW WOLF

To Becci who believed;
and to all my fans and friends who saw fire when it was only an ember.

To view the map in greater detail, visit
roninsaga.com

The Tale of the Ronin

L
ONG AGO, THE WORLD WAS IN
chaos. Twelve kingdoms fought for wealth and power, creating an age of darkness. Kings were killed by their trusted subjects in the dead of night, and citizens were thieved from their homes by those sworn to protect them. Soon, men turned on brothers, fathers against sons, and nature against man, for the greed of the twelve kingdoms consumed all…

The world turned dark, as rain ceaselessly soaked the lands, and crops withered, until death and misery replaced hope.

Then one day, a robed figure changed the fate of history.

Tales differ, some offering that he came across the ocean, others said he descended from the clouds in motes of shimmering light, while fewer still believe he simply was a man born of a different land. But all agree 
the nine
 were at his side. The Ronin. Warriors who wielded different powers of wind, water, fire, sun, moon, leaf, metal, flesh, and stone.

The robed figure came with a contract. The war would end and the lands would know peace, but in exchange, he demanded 
The Three Rules
, creating laws for the land and establishing the Great Kingdoms.

However, if any ruler grew greedy again, the nine Ronin would unite, and with the might of their elemental powers they would siege the unruly kingdom. No army could stand before the Ronin as they cleaved a path to the throne, cut off the head of the greedy ruler, and ordained a new monarch, one that would ensure true peace or be replaced once more.

For a thousand years, peace was known. The lands rejoiced as crops bloomed, and the people breathed sweet air without the stench of blood. They felt sunlight upon their skin and laughed freely. All was well… but nothing can stay good forever. One day, a blade of light was stolen, and the Ronin were blamed as the war returned. The people named this dark time Lieon, meaning “everlasting fight.” And the once-heroes became the villains of mankind.

Rumors spread of the Ronin’s betrayal… tales that Kail, their leader, had turned mad, wandering the land and killing all until he disappeared into the forest, while the rest of the Ronin joined the side of darkness. In the end, evil was thwarted but not conquered, sinking back into the lands, seething and waiting to return.

Time wore on and the lands began to grow again from the rubbles. Tales floated upon the winds as bards and minstrels spun accounts of the war and the evil sworn to return… An evil known as the Ronin.

THE THREE RULES

One

Only nine of the twelve kingdoms will be chosen and deemed “The Great Kingdoms”, those who bear the eternal elements as their sigil: wind, sun, leaf, fire, moon, water, stone, flesh, and metal.

Two

The warriors known as the Ronin, with nine magical swords, will be bound to the kingdoms—each matched to their elemental power in turn. Baro will be the ambassador for the metal kingdom, Seth for fire, Hiron for water, Aundevoriä for stone, Aurelious for flesh, Dared for moon, Maris for leaf, Omni for sun, and lastly, their leader, Kail for wind. They will be the peacemakers of the land, the arbitrators of justice.

Three

A prophecy will be forever engraved upon the walls of each Great Kingdom, words to spell the future of the world.

The land of Farhaven is full of Great Kingdoms, but only the city of fire sits at its heart—a hub of magic, might, and power, where the spark ignites the sky for all to see and wonder…

E
VISTOS THE
S
ONGSEER,
B
ARD TO THE
P
ATRIARCH

Farhaven broke the day the Ronin fell.
Not from fire or brimstone, but from lack of unity.
Without cause or master, we roved like wolves.
What once was beautiful now turned to waste.
The burnt trees, the fractured cities,
The fissured land, and broken homes—
All will be rebuilt, and we will find a home,
Until even the seed of fear is washed and worn
Like a river rock set in an old inn’s hearth.

But what is truly
thieved
is our memory:
We
must
remember. We must not let truth fall to ruin.
Our birthright, our place in this world is tied to the elements,
And the elements to
them
.
We are bound to them and them to us—
They are the home we have lost.
They are the rightful guardians of the land.
This truth will redeem the world.

R
ENALD
T
RINADEN,
T
HE
F
IRST
L
EADER OF THE
D
EVARI, TAKEN FROM HIS LOST JOURNAL ENTRIES 16 YEARS AFTER THE WAR ENDED, DURING THE
E
XILED
T
IME

PROLOGUE
—
Golden Lies

B
EFORE THE
P
ATRIARCH, ALL OF
F
ARHAVEN
lay.

Standing high in the great keep, he could see the world beneath him, stretching out endlessly—waiting to be opened like a book beneath his hands. With his level of the spark, all of it was just beyond his fingertips.

To the east, past the turquoise waters of Cloudfell Lake and a town cast in perpetual low-lying fog, lay the now desolate Great Kingdom of Stone—destroyed during the great war of the
Lieon
. To the west, he saw the shadowy Narim Foothills, the Great Kingdom of Moon. Beside it lay its unlikely neighbor, the Great Kingdom of Flesh, a land of man and beast toiling beneath the harsh sun and its religion of the Mortal Being. And lastly, to the south, many miles away, past the vineyards of Sevia and lands with roving brigands, sat the deserts of the Great Kingdom of Fire.

But
now
the Patriarch sat in the Great Kingdom of Sun known as Vaster.

The breathtaking green landscape stretched below him. Upon the rolling hills far below the grand keep and in between the bleak cliffs of stone, the land was painted verdant with hardy bushes and evergreens strong enough to withstand the bite of the harsh winter and a brilliant sun, which now filled the air with the presence of their faint aroma.

Farhaven was a land of magic, of possibilities.

A dying land,
the Patriarch knew.

A man cleared his throat, and the Patriarch turned to see a liveried servant. He was a stooped, gray-haired man with a face like a prune. He was old enough to look as if he’d survived the Lieon. But with no real spark, the Patriarch knew the old man’s age was infantile compared to his own. This high in the fortress of Vaster, he was obviously a high servant of Lord Nolan. Faint beads of sweat formed upon the man’s temple as he opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out.